Ladies and Gentlemen: I would like to announce Elton John’s
\nreturn to form.<\/p>\n
Elton John’s output since 1976’s
\nBlue Moves<\/i> has been spotty. On the one hand, he’s churned
\nout great LP’s like
\nToo Low For Zero<\/i> and
\nMade In England<\/i>. On the other, you have records in the vein
\nof
\nLeather Jackets<\/i>. Up until 2004, one could never tell what
\nkind of Elton record you were going to here. Fortunately, after the
\ncritical success of John’s 2001 back to basics effort,
\nSongs From The West Coast<\/i>, Elton said he had “drawn a line
\nthe sand” in terms of the quality of his albums.
\nPeachtree Road<\/i> shows us that the aforementioned line is
\nstill in good shape.<\/p>\n
At this point, no one expects Elton John to be the creative
\nforce he once was. The days of
\nMadman Across The Water<\/i>, and
\nTumbleweed Connection<\/i> are long gone. The greatest praise I
\ncan heap on Peachtree is that it is the closest thing to those
\nmasterworks we’ve heard from Elton in a while. What does that mean?
\nAmongst other things, strong and catchy melodies, passionate
\nvocals, and a “stripped down” sounds of sorts. Unlike some of
\nElton’s work, such as
\nThe Big Picture<\/i>, the sound of
\nPeachtree Road<\/i> is organic, even simple at times. A good deal
\nof the tracks feature Elton just playing by himself for short
\nperiods of time. Helping out in that return to the classic Elton
\nsound is Paul Buckmaster, the man responsible for most of the
\norchestral interjections on Elton’s early albums. This provides a
\nsense of continuity and remembrance with not only
\nSongs From The West Coast<\/i>, but the earlier albums as
\nwell.<\/p>\n
Given that fact the songs on
\nPeachtree<\/i> are extremely personal (e.g. “My Elusive Drug”),
\nthere was little chance of Elton falling down on the job in terms
\nof performance. This is his strongest vocal and piano work in
\nrecent memory. “My Elusive Drug” conjures up memories of “I’ve Seen
\nThat Movie Too.” On “I Stop And I Breathe” Elton just belts out
\nline after line with tremendous gusto. The vocals during “Porch
\nSwing in Tupelo,” and “Turn the Lights Out When You Leave,” have a
\ndistinctive country twang to them, reminiscent of “Amoreena” or
\n“Country Comfort.”<\/p>\n
Worthy of mention is the song “Too Many Tears”. It is a
\nbrilliant new take on the classic Elton sound. There are the old
\nelements, such as the wonderful harmonies of the backing band, and
\nMadman Across The Water<\/i>-like arrangements. What is different
\nthough, is the unusual piano work Elton displays, and the subtle
\nyet effective synthesizers. One Elton fan decreed this song to be
\nElton’s interpretation of the sound of bands like Radiohead and
\nColdplay, a description I find quite fitting.<\/p>\n
\nSongs From The West Coast<\/i> presented listeners with a
\nnegative and pessimistic view of life and love. Elton John and
\nBernie Taupin made a conscious effort for
\nPeachtree Road<\/i> to be more uplifting, and positive.
\nLyrically,
\nPeachtree<\/i> accomplishes its goal. Various songs, such as
\n“Weight Of The World,” “Answer In The Sky” and “All That I’m
\nAllowed,” paint a picture of a man who is comfortable with where
\nhis life is at the moment. Knowing the struggles Elton has gone
\nthrough (drugs, alcohol, sex), these songs become all the more
\npersonal and touching.<\/p>\n
Are there any missteps on the album? Yes, however they do not
\ndetract much from the overall feel and message of
\nPeachtree Road<\/i>. “Answer in the Sky,” the US single, is a
\nstandard Elton single, nothing to write home about. “All That I’m
\nAllowed” is a gorgeous pop song, and I love it a lot, but it just
\ndoesn’t fit in particularly well with the other tracks. “They Call
\nHer the Cat” is the closest thing to a rocker
\nPeachtree<\/i> has, featuring some great brass effects from the
\nChicago horn section. Unfortunately, it doesn’t do much for me, and
\nis the least effective song on the album.<\/p>\n
This was a special album for me, as it was the first time one of
\nmy favorite classic rock artists released a new album after I
\nbecame a fan. I was able to experience the anticipation, the
\nquestioning, the “first listen”
\nPeachtree Road<\/i> had a lot to measure up to in my eyes,
\nfortunately, it more than surpassed expectations. This is
\ndefinitely one
\nRoad<\/i> I have enjoyed traveling on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26862,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5678],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-38156","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-elton-john","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26862"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38156"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38156"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}